Out of the Present and Into the Past
by Absolut Zer0
Summary: The story of the protagonist from Grand Theft Auto III continues here. After the betrayal of Catalina, his prolonged coma left his memories hazy. As he regains his past, he must fight against the Leone Mafia alongside a defected assassin.


The shot reverberated through the biting cold atmosphere, echoing down the dam like a thunderclap. Maria stood still, shocked to see the man that was previously concealed behind the building. The Colombian gangster allowed his AK to clatter on the ground. Though his face illustrated a portrait of anguish and suffering, the wounded man uttered no sound. He keeled over his assault rifle, wishing to pick it up one last time. But his fate had already been decided by the lone gunman, who adjusted his sights on his head. The Colombian looked down the barrel of the .45 handgun, then stared at his killer. Another shot thundered, finding its mark through the Colombian's right cheek bone and into his brain. With this sudden attack, the gunman maintained alertness and scoured the area for any other possible assailants. Upon finding none, he continued the walk toward the nearby Chevy pickup truck that formerly belonged to one of the many dead Colombians.

"Can I go with you?" Maria asked of the gunman. "I have nowhere else to go, and uh…..you're the only other person I can trust in this city." The gunman didn't hesitate to agree. He nodded, opened the door of the large truck, and climbed in. "Thanks." Maria was ecstatic, though her speech didn't reveal it. She was shaken up by the whole situation; she had even questioned if her sin-filled life was worth all the trouble the silent man had gone through, but was grateful he had. Thoughts filled her with preoccupation as she climbed into the passenger seat of the large truck. As soon as she closed the door, the man accelerated out of the dam and sped down the road. He headed toward the tunnel near Catalina's mansion that led to the mainland, but turned onto the grass and headed up the hill. Maria was confused as to why the driver would do such a thing, but remained silent. The four by four Chevy easily made the steep hill climb, and eventually the headlights illuminated the side of another truck, this one belonging to the gunman--legally. The gunman continued up the hill and stopped a few feet before the edge of a cliff. He cut the engine and turned off the lights, left the transmission in neutral, then exited the truck. Maria followed. Using his two-hundred pound frame, he pushed the back of the truck and slowly forced it off the cliff. The truck fell four hundred feet and splashed into the ocean, sinking toward the bottom shortly after. The man pulled out some keys from his pocket and pushed an alarm. A few feet away, a Hummer's lights blinked and it's alarm was disabled. The two were finally heading toward home.

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The man turned the bulletproof behemoth into an underground car park and looked around for an open space. He conveniently found one next to his other ride, a nimble Porsche 911. He turned off the truck and removed his seatbelt, but before he reached for the door, Maria grabbed his shoulder.

"Th-thank you, so much." her voice quivered as she reached over and hugged him. The black-haired man placed a hand on her back, then embraced her as well. He felt something on his black t-shirt and wondered what it was until he heard Maria sniff; she started sobbing. "But why did you do it?" Maria asked after a moment. "Why? Why was I worth all that--" she stopped talking and stared into the mysterious man's gray eyes. They struck her as familiar, as if she had known him before, from somewhere a long time ago, but she couldn't remember when or where…..

Maria placed one of her hands under his chin and passionately kissed his lips. He gently placed his hand on her face and returned the gesture. After a moment, she pulled away and faintly smiled. A tear rolled down her cheek and fell on the man's hand. He wiped the trace it left on her face and removed his hand from her. After a brief moment they both exited the car and made their way toward the elevator. While waiting for the elevator, Maria wiped her eyes and began talking to her silent hero.

"So why do you stay so quiet?" She inquired. He simply stared at her. He wanted to speak to her, but he didn't feel comfortable opening up so soon. When she didn't get a reply, she spoke again. "While Catalina had me in her mansion, she told me a lot about you. Your name's Eddie, right? You two met in San Andreas?" He looked at her and nodded, but that was it. Maria sighed and kept picking at his shell. "I swear it's like I've known you before, but I can't remember where from. Your eyes, they seem familiar to me. Weird, right?" she paused for a bit. "Never mind," she added. "Forget I said--"

"You seem familiar too. Like I've known you before." Eddie spoke for the first time to her. "That's one of the reasons why I went for you, besides the fact that I was partly responsible for getting you into this mess and that it was my chance to murder that betraying bitch." Maria was taken by surprise. Eddie noticed her expression and smiled a little--the first time she saw him do it. "Your eyes, too. Greenish orange. Colored eyes are hard to find in good-looking women. When I saw your eyes for the first time, it felt as if we had met before. Can't remember when though." He remembered when he was about ten years younger, he dated a beautiful girl whose name he couldn't remember, but he recalled her having the same colored eyes as Maria. It was when he lived in Los Angeles, before he moved to San Andreas. She was his first love, and he had even lost his virginity to her. How old was he? Sixteen, seventeen? It seemed ages ago.

His memory had become dodgy after Catalina had put him in an eight month coma--the doctors didn't think he would survive and had considered pulling the plug several times. But the only reason the authorities kept him alive was because they thought he knew the location of Catalina. They wound up a little more disappointed than one might expect.

Eddie's voice wasn't terrifying or emotionless like Maria expected it to be. It sounded his age, which she gauged to be in the late 20s. The elevator chimed, and the doors opened.

"Weird, huh?" Eddie finally remarked. "Looks like we may have more in common than we thought." They both stepped into the elevator.

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Eddie unlocked the front door to his condominium. When the door opened, Maria was surprised with what she saw. It was a two-story condo, fully decorated with a white carpeting throughout both floors. The only sofa in the room was made of black leather, and it faced a large flat panel television. Though the place looked simple and could have used more furnishings, it was still elegant. A thought occurred to Maria.

"Oh my god. I don't have any clothes, or anything else. It's all at Asuka's condo."

Eddie thought about it and replied, "If you want, I'll take you to her place. It's not that late."

"No, it's okay, we'll go tomorrow. I know you're tired. I'm tired too." Eddie nodded and locked the front door. He slowly made his way up the stairs, and a few paces behind Maria followed. "I don't have to stay here forever, you know. I'll move out as fast as possible."

Eddie opened the door to the only bedroom in the house and said, "No, I want you to stay here. I prefer the company. That is, if you want to." He flipped the switch to the light.

"Thanks." Maria noticed the black queen-sized bed. "Where am I going to sleep?" she wondered.

"Well, there's only this bed and the sofa. Which do you want?" he took off his shoes and put them underneath the bed. The moonlight from the window gave them a shade of blue.

"Well, what about the other rooms?" she asked. She wanted to sleep in a bed rather than a sofa, but she didn't want him to be uncomfortable either, especially since she doubted the six foot man would be able to sleep well on the sofa.

"There are other rooms, but no beds in them."

"Why not sleep in here?" Maria suggested. She didn't think it was a bad idea.

Eddie misunderstood her and agreed. "Well, alright, I guess I'll sleep on the sof--"

"No, I mean here. Both of us." Eddie turned his head to look at her. She laughed a little. "What? Yeah, I know it's a little weird, sleeping together without getting to know each other better. It's not a bad idea, though. Might as well--the bed's big enough."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Eddie agreed as he took off his shirt. Maria stared at his ripped chest and biceps as he walked toward his closet. She noticed he had a scar in the center of his chest, but didn't ask what it was for. It could have stirred up a sour conversation, and she didn't want that on their first night together, alone. Eddie removed his socks and jeans and threw them in a plastic bin full of dirty clothes. Then, only in boxers, he looked around the closet for a change of clothes. Maria kept staring. She noticed he was a little tanned and wondered if he spent time under the sun somewhere else, since Liberty City's winter days were almost always cloudy with frequent snowing. Also, she noticed his body devoid of almost all hair. Actually, it looked like he shaved, all the way down to his legs…

While her mind was lost in a train of thought, Eddie noticed the Spanish-Italian woman staring at him as he put on a fresh white t-shirt.

"Need something?" he asked, finding a pair of athletic shorts to sleep in. Maria blushed and shook her head. She turned around and sat down on the side of the bed and began to take off her heels and pantyhose. It seemed as if the action transferred to Eddie, who now observed her undress. Her slender hands slowly made their way down each of her curvy, silky tanned legs, finally taking them off of her feet and setting them beside her heels. "I see why this is entertaining now." Eddie joked. Maria looked up and blushed again, still embarrassed from before. Eddie faintly smiled and sat down next to her. "You want a change of clothes? I got some smaller t-shirts and shorts that would fit you in my closet." Maria nodded and made her way inside the step-in closet. After a quick look around, she found a blue stretch t-shirt and some small white shorts she could fit into.

She faced Eddie and said, "Do you mind?" He shook his head and just kept staring back at her, a grin on his face. She let out a small laugh. "I guess I owe you one, huh? Whatever, pervert. Oh well. You could say the same thing about me." Maria unbuttoned her black cotton blouse and threw it aside. Her black bra held her D-cup breasts in place as she slid on the stretch t-shirt. The blue material conformed to her body's curves. Satisfied, she began sliding off her skirt. Before she did, though, she paused momentarily, remembering she wore nothing underneath but a spaghetti stringed g-string. Maria turned her head and faced Eddie. He sat looking at her, leaning back with both of his arms behind him.

With his head tilted slightly, he asked her, "Have you ever considered being a dancer?"

She giggled and decided to go ahead and take off her skirt anyway. _Might as well give him a show_, Maria thought. Slowly, she moved her hips side to side to take off her skirt. The skirt moved further down to reveal her black g-string, which appeared more like a piece of thread than lingerie. Eddie's eyebrows slightly moved up, and Maria caught notice of this. She let out a hearty laugh and allowed the skirt to fall around her feet. Eddie stared her down--she truly was gorgeous. Her small waist gave way to her round, tight butt. Somewhere in between her butt was a thread of black string, but Eddie couldn't see it. Still laughing a little, Maria put on the white shorts and picked up her other clothes. She turned off the closet light and made her way around to the other side of the bed from the attractive man. After setting down her clothes, she reached for the room light and flipped it off. Finally, she laid down on the bed next to Eddie. He laid down as well, reaching for one of the blankets on his bed. Even with the heater on, the cold seeped in from the window, leaving the room a little chilly.

The entire room was lit by a faint indigo moonlight. Maria spoke a little more softly. "So what's your life story?"

Though exhausted, Eddie didn't mind the conversation. It had been a while since he had spoke to somebody simply to talk--it had been all business for quite some time. "I'm originally from LA." Maria noticed the weariness in his voice. "I moved at the age of about seventeen. Or sixteen. I can't remember. Anyway, I moved to San Andreas with my father and mother. A few months later, some criminal decides to rob a couple in the parking lot of a movie theater. Only after taking their money, he shoots them both in the head and makes a run for it. He was eventually shot down by police, but it didn't matter. It was the single worst day of my life, because," he sighed, "as luck would have it, they were my parents."

"Oh my god…" Maria whispered under her breath.

"My life began falling apart after that. I had just turned eighteen, I graduated from high school, but I had no home to go to. I couldn't get a job anywhere, so I had to turn to the criminal world. Sometimes, doing things legitimately isn't enough. So I worked for some Japanese criminals in San Fierro and managed to get enough for a living. I got good money doing some small things, but I never got anywhere in the gang, no matter how much I did. So I left the gang and wound up working together with Catalina after we hooked up. Turns out she had some connections with the Colombian Cartel, so I worked with those guys for a while. On some major bank heist, we managed to get to the getaway car outside, but my luck always comes in handy." Another sigh. "Catalina betrayed me and shot me in my chest, left me for dead. I slipped into a coma for eight months, the authorities told me. I also suffered memory loss from the coma, so my past is dodgy--I only remember bits and pieces, and sometimes my mind makes connections and I regain some of my memories back. But I only recall a few things, and whatever I read from my criminal background in the precinct. I had difficulty remembering my own name the first week I awoke from my coma."

"I think you know how the rest goes."

"Yeah, I do. You said you used to live in LA, right?" Maria also used to live in Los Angeles, before she moved with her parents to Vice City when she was seventeen. Her relationship with her first lover was lost after the move. She couldn't remember his name though. She had come to know plenty of people ever since her downward spiral into the criminal world, and quite a handful of names as well. Her first boyfriend's name was lost amidst a sea of unimportant ones, though she wished she could remember it--so far he had been the only boy she had truly had an affection for. She had tried to keep in touch with him by sending him letters, but he never replied. She wondered if he had ever gotten the letters at all. "I used to live in LA too. What part in--"

"I'm so sorry," a near-sleeping Eddie interrupted, "but I'm struggling to keep my eyes open. I need to rest, we can talk more tomorrow. Okay?"

"Yeah, sure." Maria understood. Good night."

"Night." It bothered her; she wanted to keep talking, but she knew how tired he must be. She wanted to find out more about Eddie's personal life, almost wishing he was--

_No_, she reasoned. _It's a small chance. No way he could be it. But those eyes…they're so familiar…_ Her thoughts swirled into a haze as she slowly drifted into sleep.


End file.
